Aiden is Five!

1. How old are you today? 5

2. What is your favorite color? Green

3. What is your favorite book? Where the Sidewalk Ends

4. What is your favorite movie? Kung Fu Panda

5. What is your favorite TV show? Avengers

6. What is your favorite thing to eat? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, grilled cheese with tomato soup, and toast with holes in it (waffles with peanut butter and honey)

7. What is your favorite thing to wear? Jeans

8. What is your favorite animal? A Great White Shark, a Colossal Squid, and Beluga Whales

9. What is your favorite toy? Legos!  

10. What is your favorite thing to do with Dad? Wrestle!    

11. What is your favorite thing to do with Mom? Snuggle!  

12. What is your favorite thing to do with Sis? Play games. 

13. Who is your best friend? Liam, Owen, and Rylan

14. What do you want to be when you grow up? An Everythingologist 

15. What is your favorite song? "Sunshine," "ATB," and "Aiden, Aiden Timothy" (the three songs I sing to him before bed each night)

16. What do you like to pray about? That God helps us breathe, and He gave us this family and house.

17. What do you love about yourself? That I'm the fastest in the world and I'm good at building Lego things!  

18. Where do you like to go? Mostly to swim lessons in the summer. I like to go in the back yard when it's snowing. 

19. What makes you happy? My family.  

20.  What makes you sad? When Ava scratches me and kicks me and bites me. 

21. How big are you? 500 years...ok, 5! I weigh nine pounds, maybe.

22. What are you really good at? Running. 

23. What do you like to do before you go to sleep? Brush my teeth, have my mouthwash, read a book, and have songs. 

24. What is your favorite game to play? Puppy Game at Connie's house. 

25. What is something you learned to do this year? Wrestle, play soccer, recognize my numbers.

Brother and Sis

They'll probably be yelling at each other within the next five minutes, but for now, this mama's heart is full.

First Family Ski Day

This has been a big ski year for us. Aiden took lessons at Mt. Spokane. While he was taking his lessons, I was practicing my skills with Eric. Once Aiden's lessons were done, it was time for us to head up to 49 Degrees North for our first family ski day. Eric has been waiting for this day for so long that he was seriously giddy in the car. Although I'm still pretty slow and Aiden flies right by me, I'm so excited for this to be a family pastime in the winters. Just a couple more years until Ava can join us!

Straight From the Beach to the Snow

Although we were sad to leave Hawaii, the kids were thrilled at the amount of snow that dumped on Spokane while we were gone!

New Year's

We spent New Year's Eve at our rental. We had tuna for dinner and had some wonderful, relaxed family time. We also took advantage of the time difference and watched the ball drop in New York much earlier than midnight in Kauai!

Cheers to pina coladas on New Year's Eve!

Enjoying our coffee and breakfast on the beach on New Year's Day. I can't think of a better way to start the new year!

Today we decided to go to Lydgate Beach Park. Man-made rock walls made for more calm water and some good snorkeling.






On the way home, we drove to the Ho'olalaea Falls lookout. They were so pretty!










All packed and ready for bed. We loved every second of our stay in Kauai and hope to come back again soon!

Salt Pond Beach Park

Today we headed to Salt Pond Beach Park located on the West Shore just a short drive from Kapa'a. The coolest part of this beach was the rock walls the waves crashed into. The kids loved playing in the waterfalls that resulted from them

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Pretty sure Aiden boogie boarded at every beach we went to!

On the way home, we saw a sign for fresh tuna. Eric, ever the lover of everything local, decided we must stop, especially since it is a Hawaiian tradition to eat tuna on New Year's Eve. We ended up at a fisherman's house, where he was outside cleaning his boat. Eric bought an entire fish and gutted and cleaned it himself after watching a YouTube video. I love this man!

The tuna was to die for!

We Love Kapa'a!

We have completely fallen in love with Kapa'a. Our rental house is perfect for us. We love that it is right across the street from Baby Beach and that it has anything we could possibly need for fun-filled day. There is a long walking/biking trail that follows the coastline from our house to as far as we can bike. Eric and I and Grammy and Gramp have loved being able to sneak away for some runs and rides on the trail.

 

This evening we headed into town for some Hawaiian shave ice, which has coconut ice cream as it's base. So delicious!

My favorite picture of these two cuties to date, especially since it wasn't posed!

Another thing we love about Kauai in general is all of the roosters. A hurricane a few years ago set them free, and now they run wild all over the island. Although they cock-a-doodle-doo at all hours, the keep the island pretty free of bugs, which I very much appreciate!

Exploring the North Shore

We were so sad that grandma wasn't feeling well with kidney stones. She insisted that we all still have fun, though, so we headed to the North Shore to do some exploring. This is the rainy side of the island. Although we got caught in a couple of downpours, we still had a blast. The rain makes this side of the island the most lush place we've ever visited!

Playing on the beach in between seeking shelter under the trees during the rain at Anini Beach.

We loved the town of Hanalei. This was the view from one of the restaurants. If you look closely, you can see the waterfalls on the mountain. So beautiful! 

There is nothing I love more than an adventure with my family!

On our way home, we stopped at a tiny little sushi place. We ordered one of their specialties: the sushi burrito! Quite possibly the best sushi we have ever had!

Although Grammy and Grandpa didn't make it on this trip with us, we took them back on a different day and enjoyed lunch and some shopping together. On our way to Hanalei, we stopped at Maniniholo Dry Cave. It was hard to get a good shot because it was so dark, but it was pretty cool inside! That is until I realized there were spider webs covering the ceiling. That made for a quick exit!

The kids made some new friends in Hanalei!

We definitely hope to visit the North Shore again. There is a gorgeous rain forest at the tip of it that we would love to hike! Such a beautiful area!

Hike to Ho'opi'i Falls

A trip with Grammy and Gramp wouldn't be complete without a crazy hike! I read that the hike to Ho'opi'i falls was just a couple of miles and very easy. Since it was just a short drive, we decided it would be the perfect way to spend the morning. What we didn't account for was that the trail was complete mud due to the rain the night before! Our "easy" hike turned out to be a pretty precarious one with lots of slips and a few falls along the way!

The hike followed a stream and was absolutely gorgeous. However, after Eric slipped and barely avoided crushing Aiden, who was on his back, we decided we didn't actually need to see the waterfalls before we headed back!

Proof of our muddy hike!

After we cleaned up, we headed to Baby Beach for a fun afternoon in the sun.

Poipu Beach

Today we headed to Poipu Beach on the South Shore. This is the side of the island that gets the most sun. It was only about a 30 minute drive from our place. Our favorite part of the drive was going through this tunnel of trees. So cool! 

We were actually sprinkled on a few times, but when the rain came, we just put on our towels and waited for it to pass, which happened pretty quickly. A little rain didn't put a damper on our fun! 

One great feature of our vacation rental was that it was stocked with anything we could possibly need, this boogie board included. Today Aiden went from being a bit trepidatious around waves to riding them like a pro. He had a blast and we were all so happy and relieved!